Daily Briefing Sept. 7: Day 337 – Haviv Rettig Gur on Israel’s Sophie’s Choice
After a tumultuous week, we ask some big questions about how Israelis are viewing this decisive moment as the country, and its leadership, are torn in two as negotiations falter
Welcome to The Times of Israel’s Daily Briefing, your 20-minute audio update on what’s happening in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world.
Today, we bring you a bonus episode of What Matters Now, a weekly podcast exploring one key issue currently shaping Israel and the Jewish World. This episode features host Amanda Borschel-Dan speaking with senior analyst Haviv Rettig Gur.
This week, Israel was shattered by the news that six hostages, all previously thought alive, were discovered dead in a Gaza tunnel. The six hostages whose bodies were recovered over the weekend — Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Eden Yerushalmi, Ori Danino, Alex Lobanov, Carmel Gat, and Almog Sarusi — were killed just days before troops found them, according to autopsies and the IDF.
They were all buried on Sunday and Monday and hundreds of thousands of protesters took to the streets on Sunday demanding a hostage release deal — now.
Rettig Gur and Borschel-Dan have an open, painful conversation about what may be the two sides of Israel’s Sophie’s Choice: between live hostages and, potentially, the military deterrence to prevent more Israelis from being taken.
For news updates, please check out The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.
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